A very good example of this celebrated output was discovered by Sandbach auctioneers Andrew, Hilditch & Son (12% buyer's premium) in a Cheshire home. The vessel, pictured right, stands around 11in (27cm) high with its berry-form stopper, and features a typically organic form embellished with metallic maroon and royal blue glazes highlighted in gilt.
There was some damage to the stopper but - with five telephones booked (including one from Budapest) - it raced past its modest estimate to bring £5300 from a London-based collector-dealer.
Market proves hungry for Zsolnay
THE most desirable of the varied wares produced by the small ceramics factory established by Vilmos Zsolnay (1828-1900) in the southwest Hungarian town of Pecs are those created after the 1890s. It was then that Zsolnay – having encountered the glazes of Clement Massier in Paris – perfected his Eosine glaze and employed his principle designer Tade Sikorski to model forms sympathetic to the Art Nouveau and Jugendstil movements.